Funny how sometimes we are oblivious of the obvious. For instance, I am referring to friends and other Armenians who ask about how to get themselves to Armenia. They don’t want to be just tourists (many of them have already done that). I had mentioned in previous logs of the different opportunities, AIM magazine had an article about it a few issues ago. But are there any other possibilities?
Last week, I received an electronic invitation of an Armenian cultural evening at the Museum of Civilization from the Laval University in the city of Quebec (practically no Armenians live there). I was curious. So I drove about 2.5 hours to see who and what the event was about… crazy huh?
I was so surprised to learn that 20 non-armenian university students in the field of museology had initiated and planned an exchange program with the Yerevan State University. Their objective was to assist indigenous people who’s culture was threatened. Apparently a Quebecois professor Mr. Henri Dorion (Geographer) was an adept of the Caucasus and has traveled to Armenia on many occasions. He was the inspiration of the program. The evening started with an art exhibition of Montreal Armenian artists then was followed by a brief presentation of Armenia. One of the students presented the project and talked about the poor situation of the Armenian museums. He said that some will stay for 2 weeks and others will remain up to 2 months. They had also treated the visitors with a nice Armenian buffet which was followed by music and poetry. The evening concluded with a presentation of the film “Mayrig” by Henri Verneuil (Ashot Malakian).
Needless to say I was stunned and well… aboushtsadz would be the best description. What an amazing project! This is proof that Armenia and Armenians should not limit themselves to the Armenian Diaspora or Armenian organisations. We should start making our culture global. We always think that people (non-Armenians) will not be interested in what we have to offer. That’s so wrong! It’s time we held our dance performances, book readings, music recitals in public arenas and send out the invitation to the general public. In Montreal, some organisations have just started to do this and they are finding that the halls are filling up more then when only Armenians were invited.
As for those who are looking for alternative projects to take to Armenia, how difficult would it be for them to search the internet for their areas of interest. Locate a club or a group that works in that field, propose a project and take it from there. There are many financial sources that could subsidize these types of projects. Anyone interested could write to me directly.
Best of luck to my 20 Quebecois friends in Armenia… hope their experience takes them back again and again.
Sunday I attended a recital of classical songs in the Bolsahay community. My friend Sarkis Barsoumian performed a 2 hour program with pieces from Italian, German, Spanish and Armenian composers. He is very good. Raffi M., you should maybe think of recording him… lots of potential!
Last week, I received an electronic invitation of an Armenian cultural evening at the Museum of Civilization from the Laval University in the city of Quebec (practically no Armenians live there). I was curious. So I drove about 2.5 hours to see who and what the event was about… crazy huh?
I was so surprised to learn that 20 non-armenian university students in the field of museology had initiated and planned an exchange program with the Yerevan State University. Their objective was to assist indigenous people who’s culture was threatened. Apparently a Quebecois professor Mr. Henri Dorion (Geographer) was an adept of the Caucasus and has traveled to Armenia on many occasions. He was the inspiration of the program. The evening started with an art exhibition of Montreal Armenian artists then was followed by a brief presentation of Armenia. One of the students presented the project and talked about the poor situation of the Armenian museums. He said that some will stay for 2 weeks and others will remain up to 2 months. They had also treated the visitors with a nice Armenian buffet which was followed by music and poetry. The evening concluded with a presentation of the film “Mayrig” by Henri Verneuil (Ashot Malakian).
Needless to say I was stunned and well… aboushtsadz would be the best description. What an amazing project! This is proof that Armenia and Armenians should not limit themselves to the Armenian Diaspora or Armenian organisations. We should start making our culture global. We always think that people (non-Armenians) will not be interested in what we have to offer. That’s so wrong! It’s time we held our dance performances, book readings, music recitals in public arenas and send out the invitation to the general public. In Montreal, some organisations have just started to do this and they are finding that the halls are filling up more then when only Armenians were invited.
As for those who are looking for alternative projects to take to Armenia, how difficult would it be for them to search the internet for their areas of interest. Locate a club or a group that works in that field, propose a project and take it from there. There are many financial sources that could subsidize these types of projects. Anyone interested could write to me directly.
Best of luck to my 20 Quebecois friends in Armenia… hope their experience takes them back again and again.
Sunday I attended a recital of classical songs in the Bolsahay community. My friend Sarkis Barsoumian performed a 2 hour program with pieces from Italian, German, Spanish and Armenian composers. He is very good. Raffi M., you should maybe think of recording him… lots of potential!
posted by Raffi N at 3:48 AM
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